Amendment to records policy will better protect sensitive information

Sturgeon County amended its Records and Information Management Policy Sept. 14 to safeguard against sensitive information getting out and damaging viruses getting in.

By MorinvilleNews.com Staff

Sturgeon County – County Council unanimously approved an amendment to the County’s Records and Information Management Policy. The revision provides direction to County employees that have custody of official County records and / or technical infrastructure that could contain sensitive or confidential information.

Council heard that prior to the revision Sturgeon County had no policy or procedure that directed staff or the County’s elected officials on handling information on storage devices, including USB drives.

“We just see this policy as another progressive step in our records management policy,” Jody Jackson told council during her presentation, adding the process would begin immediately with a confidentiality agreement currently in the works and would expand to different modules as time progressed. “This’ll definitely be an ongoing step in our security measures.”

Jackson also told council quotes were being solicited for encrypted USB keys that would prevent sensitive data from being accessed should the key be lost.

But while the amendment to the policy is designed to prevent sensitive information from getting out, it also addresses the possibility of damaging information getting in by way of computer virus carried on portable data platforms.

The addition to the County’s policy statement is as follows:

During the course of employment, staff may have access to confidential or sensitive information. All county information must be maintained in a manner that ensures its safe collection, storage, and use.